Mt. Iliamna
This season found Theresa and I back in Alaska at the Snug Harbor Cannery to support the AVO team while they studied Mt. Iliamna.
Mt. Iliamna volcano is a broad, deeply dissected and highly altered, roughly cone-shaped mountain at the north end of a 5-km-long ridge. Most of the volcano is covered by perennial snow and ice. Numerous glaciers radiate from the summit area and large avalanche deposits occur on the flanks of the volcano, particularly down the Umbrella Glacier on the southwest side of Mt. Iliamna.
According to the team, Mt. Iliamna is one of the least active in Alaska and as such one of the least studied. But that was all to change during the two weeks we were all on the island. Unusually warm and dry weather resulted in the team being able to fly out in the field every single day. Not once did they have to scrub flights due to weather.
Support
Our mission is a labor of love, but it does come with overhead. If you’d like to support our efforts we’d certainly appreciate it. Currently, we’re actively participating in the following field research:
- COASST Beached Bird Surveys
- Wild and Scenic River Project
Thank you.
Alaska Volcano Observatory
The AVO is staffed by 22 full-time scientists, technicians, and administrators. However, they weren’t the only ones that came out during the two-week study. There were volcanologists from Colorado and southern California that also came out for a portion of that time.
The AVO is responsible for assessing the full range of potential hazards at specific volcanic centers. This effort involves studying a volcano to determine the style and frequency of past eruptions and the potential impacts of future activity. Hazards assessments include descriptions of the history of a given volcano, explanations of likely eruption scenarios, and determination of probable impact zones for the range of expected hazards.
Each person or small team were there to study a different aspect of the Mt. Iliamna volcano. One of the most interesting, and just plain geeky, was measuring differences in the gravitational pull around the volcano to find magma dooms.
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Toleak Beach is located on the coast of Washington. The sea stacks in the background are part of the Giant's Graveyard.
This Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) was unusually relaxed during our hike out on the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge boardwalk. We almost tripped over him before noticing him. Never could see what he was so intently looking at.
Mt. Rainier as seen from the mouth of the Nisqually Delta.
Sunset over the Pacific on Washington's coast.
Just published our latest adventure, or maybe misadventure. You can find the link in my bio up top. - "A Regenerating Dip in Coldwater Lake"
Here's my latest news article regarding the world of citizen-science | "A Summer of Wild and Scenic Rivers"
Low tide on Crescent Bay.
Lake Crescent after the big wind storm we had last night. We got hammered on the beach, losing our weather station from atop the RV. I was recording gust of nearly 40 before we lost our instrumentation. However, all’s good this morning.
Pinto Falls in Gifford Pinchot National Forest. This little hidden ravine sits on an otherwise nondescript hillside. Never know what you’re going to find.
Took advantage of the clear skies and set up a day camp on the Washington coast. After a week of forest fire haze, it was a relief to see blue on the horizon.
The North Head lighthouse was built in 1989 just north of the Columbia River on the Washington coast.
Just published our latest adventure - "A Night at Dusty Lake" - You can find the link in my bio up top.
Lewis & Clark had their dog, 'Seaman’ and we have 'Ghost' to round out our team of explorers. Pinto Falls is in the background. A big thanks to Brad for bringing him along.
Tower Rock in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. This monolith soars 2000' above the Cispus Valley floor.
Sunrise from basecamp over Tower Rock in the background. Are we sure this is October?
Made it to the top of Burley Mountain and the fire lookout there. Mt. Rainier in the background.
Snug Harbor Outpost
The usual suspects were all present at the Cannery this year and it’s always good to come ‘home’ and rekindle relationships. We swapped stories about engagements, passings, man overboard and the usual, “You won’t believe this…” stories.
climate change
The cannery looked much the same despite this being her centennial year. The biggest issue we had to contend with this year was that the waterfall we rely on for our freshwater was just about running dry.
The same weather that allowed the AVO to conduct such a rapid assessment of Mt. Iliamna was also threatening to dry our water source.
This forced us to rig a storage system and pump to make sure we had the necessary water for daily use. I’ve only been going to the island for about 10 years, but those who have been coming out for decades mentioned that this was the first time they had seen the waterfall just about dried out.
